Poll: Majority of seniors support medical marijuana

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll done for the nation's largest advocacy group for seniors.

More than half of those questioned said they believe marijuana has medical benefits, while a larger majority agreed the drug is addictive.

AARP, with 35 million members, says it has no political position on medical marijuana and that its local branches have not chosen sides in the scores of state ballot initiatives on the issue in recent elections.

But with medical marijuana at the center of a Supreme Court case to be decided next year, and nearly a dozen states with medical marijuana laws on their books, AARP decided to study the issue.

"The use of medical marijuana applies to many older Americans who may benefit from cannabis," said Ed Dwyer, an editor at AARP The Magazine, which will discuss medical marijuana in its March/April issue appearing in late January.

Among the 1,706 adults polled in AARP's random telephone survey in November, opinions varied along regional and generational lines and among the 30 percent of respondents who said they have smoked pot. AARP members represented 37 percent of respondents.

Overall, 72 percent of respondents agreed "adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." Those in the Northeast (79 percent) and West (82 percent) were more receptive to the idea than in the Midwest (67 percent) and Southwest (65 percent). In Southern states, 70 percent agreed with the statement.

Though 69 percent of those age 70 and older said they support legal medical marijuana use, less than half agreed it has medical benefits. Seventy percent of respondents age 45-49 said they believe in the medical benefits of pot, as did 59 percent of those in the 50-69 age group.

And while 74 percent of all people surveyed said pot is addictive, older respondents were more likely to think so: 83 percent of those 70 and older, compared with 61 percent of those aged 45-49.

Generational lines also divided those who have smoked pot: Just 8 percent of those 70 and older admitted having lit up, compared with 58 percent of the 45-49 group, 37 percent of those between 50 and 59 and 15 percent of the 60-69 set.

National polls in recent years have found majority support for allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Last month, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether federal agents can pursue sick people who use homegrown marijuana with their doctors' permission and their states' approval.

The Bush administration has argued that allowing medical marijuana in California would undermine federal drug control programs, and that pot grown for medical use could end up on the illegal market and cross state lines.

The AARP poll of adults age 45 and older was conducted November 10-21 by International Communications Research of Media, Pennsylvania. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

I find it pretty sad. My Mom worked in a factory for about 35 years, until she became disabled due to the repetitive work. She has been on every prescription pain killer, including OxyContin and Celebrex. She worries about becoming addicted to these hard drugs, and rightly so. I try and convince her to take a few puffs of week weed, and she won't touch in because she has been told all her life that it is evil. I'm not trying to get my mom high, I just want her out of pain. I'd rather risk getting addicted to marijuana than some of the crap the government is allowing the corporate pushers to sell.

I find it pretty sad. My Mom worked in a factory for about 35 years, until she became disabled due to the repetitive work. She has been on every prescription pain killer, including OxyContin and Celebrex. She worries about becoming addicted to these hard drugs, and rightly so. I try and convince her to take a few puffs of week weed, and she won't touch in because she has been told all her life that it is evil. I'm not trying to get my mom high, I just want her out of pain. I'd rather risk getting addicted to marijuana than some of the crap the government is allowing the corporate pushers to sell.

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and this crap is causing strokes and what not. i have some friends that work for pfizer and eli-lilly (whose patent ran out not too long ago for prozac) and they make some cashola. billions of dollars made on drugs that are synthetic and haven't been tested long enough to know the adverse side effects.

and, marijuana is a a lot safer than alcohol in my opinion.

anyone can grow a plant...it takes a lot more time and effort to brew beer or make bathtub gin.

I'm definately not a liberal-hippy, and I have no desire, err.. little desire, to get high. Personally, I think the laws concerning marijuana should mirror the alcohol laws, but that's unrealistic. There's too much stigma for it to ever be available like alcohol. But, there is as much stigma on a lot of these pain medicines, so I think with enough pressure on our leaders, it could someday become legal in all fifty states for people who could really use it. Some of the most conservative people I know can't figure out why an adult who can buy liquor or go to Iraq and kill people can't smoke a joint in his own home.

I happen to be in the age group of those polled by the AARP. It would be much better if it were regulated by the government just like any other drug. There are those that are very sick and the marijuana helps them. Why should they have to be a criminal to get medication that helps them. Alcohol and tobacco have terrible side effects, but they are legal.

because it's against the law dammit. I'm sick and tired of these liberal hippies thinking they are above the law, and that the laws that made this country great are to be trampled all over.

Weed is a gateway drug. This will lead to a new problem: meth addicted grandparents.

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More people die each year from alcohol than from dope. If you legalize something, you can regulate it, rather than indirectly supporting the black market for drugs in this country. At my high school, it is easier to get dope than to get booze. And no, dope isn't a "gateway drug". There are some things that are just dumb, like heroin and meth. Mixing everything that is bad for you (purified Sudafed, pure iodine, paint thinner, wood alcohol, lithium batteries, etc.) together and injecting it into your arm is never going to get legalized. Dope has legitimate medical purposes.

More people die each year from alcohol than from dope. If you legalize something, you can regulate it, rather than indirectly supporting the black market for drugs in this country. At my high school, it is easier to get dope than to get booze. And no, dope isn't a "gateway drug". There are some things that are just dumb, like heroin and meth. Mixing everything that is bad for you (purified Sudafed, pure iodine, paint thinner, wood alcohol, lithium batteries, etc.) together and injecting it into your arm is never going to get legalized. Dope has legitimate medical purposes.

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guys i'm kidding...relax...i don't even live in your country.

i live in vancouver. telling me that weed is good is just preaching to the choir (although i'm sure some choir members haven't been listening faithfully to the pastor every sunday).

Yes, it is. Nearly all heroin abusers have used marijuana before. Because it is so easy to make, compared to other drugs, it is widely abused.

I'm gonna try and watch this thread... my psychology class spent a long time on this topic.

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The same is true of alcohol. Why is alcohol still legal?

And the whole gateway theory has never been proven to be true. Psychology student or not, there is no reasonable basis for that claim. With the reputation heroin has there are deeper reasons behind peoples decision to try it.

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Way i see it as long as weed is kept illegal it keeps all the low life drug dealers in business. If it was legalized it would be harder for minors to get, it would be safer and cheaper for the consumer and it give govt another source of revenue which at the moment they dont have. This would also free up courts and law enforcement to concentrate and spend our tax dollars going after real crime. Fact is this is political nonsense from some stupid law past years ago made under false pretense and current political correctness blinds the politician from seeing a real solution. So here we are.

I have seriously fantasized about becoming a major recreational drug user if I ever make it past seventy.

I figure that at that point any long-term health problems associated will not matter and I can blame it all on senility.

I think I could get away with it, and party with friends like it was 1999 (when it is 2045).

Oregon has medicinal marijuana and is a fairly conservative state. It is best not to confuse the issue with recreational marijuana usage. I have no problem with either, but anything that can ease someone's suffering, with minimal side-effects is something that should be supported imo.

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